Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, at a press conference with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday, said of the president,“I don’t think he persuaded a soul with his talk last night.” | Win McNamee/Getty Images

FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY … FORMER SENATE MAJORITY LEADER TRENT LOTT, via Mississippi Today’s Adam Ganucheau and Larrison Campbell: “‘It’s all bullshit,’ Lott told Mississippi Today on Tuesday. ‘We need security. We need to control the border, but now it’s about symbolism. Democrats are not one dollar for a wall. (Republicans say) “We’re being invaded, we’ve got to have the wall.’’ ‘It’s as bad as I’ve ever seen it.’” Mississippi Today

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, after signing the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act this afternoon, on why he did not discuss declaring a national emergency in his address Tuesday night: “I think we might work a deal, and if we don’t I may go that route. I have the absolute right to do a national emergency if I want.” When asked what his threshold will be for making that decision, Trump said “if I can’t make a deal with people that are unreasonable.”

-- CRAZY ENOUGH, this might be the only way out of this shutdown right now.

MORE FROM TRUMP: “We would like to see real immigration reform in this country, because we need it and it would be a beautiful thing.”

SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI said in caucus this morning that the White House “keeps moving the goalposts” and they are nearly out of the stadium. … House Republicans were dug in this morning in their meeting, per sources there, and were not looking like they were ready to cave.

PELOSI and SENATE MINORITY LEADER CHUCK SCHUMER held a news event with furloughed government workers this morning in the Rayburn Room, a clear attempt to message that government workers are, in fact, not with the president in shutting down the government.

-- SCHUMER: “I don’t think he persuaded a soul with his talk last night.”

-- PELOSI: “We are all committed to strong border security. … There’s a path here, but it is not one that the administration wants to take.” She urged Republicans to “take yes for an answer.” And she called TRUMP “almost delusionary” in his insistence that federal workers want a shutdown and a wall. (Polls show they mostly do not.)

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SHUTDOWN LATEST … TRUMP TO THE HILL … BURGESS EVERETT: “Trump and lawmakers set to face off in breakneck shutdown talks”: “[E]ach side’s position on Trump’s border wall demands are as stubborn as ever, with no signs that a compromise is emerging. … Democratic leaders and staffers have spent hours and hours holed up with Pence, Trump and other White House officials to no avail. … Little in Washington has changed over the past 19 days other than growing worry about the shutdown affecting travel, tourism, agriculture and other staples of the American economy.” POLITICO

-- NYT’S JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS: “Democrats Focus on Shutdown’s Cost and Steer Away From Trump’s Wall”: “For Democrats, newly in control of the House, the shutdown fight has proved unifying, crystallizing a near-universal belief in their ranks that Congress should act as a check on the power of a president who has shown little regard for the law and has used his office to sow fear and misinformation on issues like immigration. But while they are almost all opposed to the idea of a wall between the United States and Mexico … Democrats are less united about what form of border security they do support.” NYT

Good Wednesday afternoon.

THE IMPACT -- CNN’S MANU RAJU (@mkraju): “U.S. potentially risks losing its triple-A credit rating if shutdown continues long enough, Fitch Ratings said. The head of sovereign ratings said if the shutdown continues to March 1 and complicates debt ceiling, ‘We may need to start thinking about the policy framework.’”

-- “‘We’re struggling’: Federal shutdown is impacting everyday Americans in unexpected ways,” by USA Today’s Jorge Ortiz and Paul Davidson: “Accidents like last week’s horrific crash in Florida that killed seven people — five of them children on the way to Disney World – will not be investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board, whose employees are mostly on furlough. …

“The U.S. Department of Agriculture will delay the release of crucial crop reports that investors and farmers rely on to get a sense for what the agricultural market will look like in the upcoming season. … In a biting bit of irony, the courts that review the cases of undocumented immigrants – the same people Trump wants to keep away with the wall – will see their backlog increase because more than 300 judges have been furloughed.” USA Today

-- THE ATLANTIC’S RUSS BERMAN: “Why Unpaid Federal Workers Don't Just Strike During a Shutdown”: “Since the enactment of the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947, federal employees have been legally prohibited from striking. That law was intended to prevent public-sector workers from leveraging a work stoppage that could cripple the U.S. government or major industries in negotiations for better pay, working conditions, and benefits. But it likely did not envision a scenario where the government would require its employees to work without paying them, as is the case now.” The Atlantic

A message from AARP:

The big drug companies don’t see us as people. They see us as profits. Americans pay the highest drug prices in the world while they rake in billions. We shouldn’t have to choose between buying medication and buying food. Congress, stop the greed. Cut drug prices now. https://www.aarp.org/Rx

TRUMP’S SECOND FIGHT … @realDonaldTrump at 10:25 a.m.: “Billions of dollars are sent to the State of California for Forest fires that, with proper Forest Management, would never happen. Unless they get their act together, which is unlikely, I have ordered FEMA to send no more money. It is a disgraceful situation in lives & money!”

-- MATTHEW CHOI: “When contacted by POLITICO on Wednesday morning, FEMA news desk manager Michael Hart said he was scrambling to understand what exactly Trump's tweet would entail. As the federal government enters its 19th day of a partial shutdown, parts of FEMA's media department remain shuttered, but Hart said the administration would release a follow-up on Trump's tweet soon.

“FEMA disaster relief funds and other programs that ‘directly apply to the protection of human life or the protection of property’ will continue through the shutdown.” POLITICO

THE INVESTIGATIONS … CNN’S JEREMY HERB (@jeremyherb): “[Sen. Lindsey] Graham says after meeting [attorney general nominee William] Barr that Barr pledged not to interfere in Mueller probe. ‘He has no reason for Mr. Mueller to stop doing his job and is committed to letting Mr. Mueller finish his work,’ Graham said.” … “More Graham: -- Barr told him that he would follow procedure while ‘erring on the side of transparency’ about sharing Mueller's final report with Congress and the public.”

THE NEW MAJORITY -- NYT’S NICK FANDOS: “Democrats Start Investigative Gears, but Slowly”: “Democrats, transitioning into the House majority, have quietly sent dozens of letters in recent weeks seeking documents and testimony from President Trump’s businesses, his campaign and his administration, setting the table for investigations that could reach the center of his presidency. …

“For eager liberals coming off two years of Republican oversight paralysis, the next few weeks may feel something like a game of hurry up and wait. Arranging witnesses and wrangling sensitive government documents take time, and most House committees have yet to be populated with lawmakers, not to mention much of the legion of lawyers who will do a lot of the work of investigations.” NYT

-- MARTIN MATISHAK: “Mnuchin to brief lawmakers on easing sanctions against Putin ally”: “Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday will provide House lawmakers with a classified briefing on the Trump administration's plan to ease sanctions against three companies controlled by Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, who has close ties to President Vladimir Putin. ...

“The all-member briefing is one of the earliest tangible oversight acts by House Democrats since the new majority was sworn in last week. The notice comes the day after seven Democratic House chairmen sent Mnuchin a letter asking him ‘to explain the easing of sanctions on businesses tied to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.’” POLITICO

ON THE WORLD STAGE -- “EU parliament laments trans-Atlantic relations under Trump,” by AP’s Raf Casert in Brussels: “A key European Union legislative group has lambasted U.S. President Donald Trump’s ‘harmful’ approach to trans-Atlantic relations, warning that the divisions it creates will only embolden global rivals.

“In a letter to be sent to members of U.S. Congress on Wednesday, the delegation for U.S. relations criticized ‘the increasingly harmful approach from the White House,’ and condemned the demotion of the EU ambassador to the U.S. in the largely ceremonial Diplomatic Order of Precedence to ‘the bottom of the list.’ … In the letter, obtained by The Associated Press, the delegation pleads that both sides ‘not undermine each other.’” AP

TRADE WARS -- “After NAFTA fight, Trump threatens another trade battle with Central America,” by the Miami Herald’s Franco Ordoñez: “Now that the Trump administration has revamped the North American Free Trade Agreement, it is taking a look at kicking key countries out of its sister pact, the Central American Free Trade Agreement.

“Trump officials are taking a very close look at the 2005 pact signed with six Latin American nations to see if they can block Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and El Salvador from keeping preferential access to U.S. markets without disturbing the rest of the agreement. ‘We are very concerned with Nicaragua’s move toward authoritarianism, and El Salvador’s and Dominican Republic’s questionable ties with China,’ the official said.” Miami Herald

-- WSJ’S ALEX LEARY: “Business Lobby Gaining a Voice Amid Pressure for U.S.-China Trade Peace”: “In recent weeks, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and his team have been holding meetings with leading trade groups, soliciting ideas on specific terms that would resolve the conflict, which has hurt companies on both sides of the Pacific.

“While Mr. Lighthizer has regularly communicated with top business interests such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and the Business Roundtable, talks have moved into concrete ways to shape the deal, people familiar with the discussions say. ... The turnabout comes amid recent stock-market volatility triggered in part by uncertainty over the status of the trade talks and the potential impact a stalemate could have on the economy.” WSJ

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION -- “Big Dairy Is About to Flood America’s School Lunches With Milk,” by Bloomberg’s Peter Robison and Lydia Mulvany: “The American lunchroom war has taken another turn. … [T]he Agriculture Department finalized the rules in December. It’s a victory for many of the big food companies that count on schools as a steady source of revenue and see them as an opportunity to shape the buying habits of future consumers. The win is especially sweet for the $200 billion U.S. dairy industry …

“The shift has particularly unwelcome consequences for the one-third of American kids considered overweight or obese. It underscores the contradiction at the heart of the meals program, which is simultaneously trying to feed schoolkids healthful food while supporting agribusinesses that want to pack the menu with their own products. And it shows the enduring power of diet in the cultural divide.” Bloomberg

-- THE DAILY BEAST’S ERIN BANCO: “Treasury Department Chaos Leads to Exodus of Key Staffers”: “Tensions are running particularly high in the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, which combats terrorist financing domestically and internationally. The Daily Beast interviewed eight current and former staffers there, all of whom said department leaders often overlook their professional assessments on key policy-related topics, including sanctions designations.

“They also said President Trump’s constantly shifting policy focus creates a chaotic and confusing environment. … Sources who spoke to The Daily Beast said the changing whims of the White House, which come down through the leaders of Treasury, force them to work 20-hour days with no clear indication if what they work on one day will last into the next. And that is what is pushing several out the door.” The Daily Beast

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THE ATLANTIC’S ADAM HARRIS: “The College Students Who Are Too Hungry to Finish School”: “[T]he blight of food insecurity among college students is real, and a new report from the Government Accountability Office, a non-partisan congressional watchdog, highlights the breadth of those affected. There are potentially millions of students at risk of being food insecure—which means they do not have access to nutritious, affordable food—the report says.

“It is the first time that the federal government has acknowledged food insecurity on campus in a significant way. The federal government spends billions of dollars on higher education each year, and this report finds that some students are at risk of dropping out because they cannot eat, although there aren’t good data on just how many.” The Atlantic

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Anna Palmer is a senior Washington correspondent for POLITICO and co-author of POLITICO’s Playbook, the most indispensable morning newsletter for the biggest influencers in politics.

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Along with her Playbook co-author Jake Sherman, Anna is the author of "The Hill to Die on: The Battle for Congress and the Future of Trump's America," which will be published by Crown on April 2019.

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